The big pink moustache has arrived in Wilmington.
 
Lyft, that other major on-demand transportation service in the U.S., began operating in Wilmington at noon on Thursday. Since its founding in 2012 in San Francisco, Lyft has been known as the service that features large pink moustaches on the front of all its drivers’ cars. It now operates in more than 200 cities across the country.
 
The simple peer-to-peer ridesharing service connects passengers who need a ride with drivers who have a car and are part of the Lyft network. Everything, including payment, is handled through its mobile app. Drivers and passengers also rate each other through the app.
 
Wilmington already has Uber, the app-based transportation service that has been cruising streets in the area since 2014.
 
Uber was launched as an alternative to taxi service in 2009 and like Lyft is built around mobile phones and freelance drivers who use their own cars to transport customers.
 
Lyft’s famed moustache, however, is in the process of being shaved off.
 
The company is dropping the furry logo in favor of a more streamlined look. Now Lyft drivers will have a sleek, glowing device mounted on their dashboard to help customers spot the car they ordered.
 
Lyft’s new head of marketing, Melissa Waters, told Business Insider that ditching the company’s logo was a “big step.”
 
“Internally, we had that moment of ‘We’re retiring the mustache? It’s such a big icon for our company,’” Waters told Business Insider. “But this for me really takes everything to an entirely new level — it’s a multifaceted step. We not only are upping our branding in the car and our messaging in the car, we’re making ride-sharing’s first connected device.”
 
To be a Lyft driver requires a few basics, starting with a 2004 or newer vehicle in good condition with at least four doors and seatbelts for all the passengers. In addition a driver goes through a thorough background check, and the car must have in-state insurance and in-state license plates. To be a passenger is even easier; load the app, fill out a profile and input your choice of payment.
 
While the service is easy to use, both Lyft and Uber have had their battles as the two companies have grown and matured.
 
Various cities have fought the ride sharing services, often at the behest of established taxi companies. Earlier this week in Springfield, Missouri, the local city council voted to amend the city code so companies like Lyft and Uber could operate within city limits.
 
The change meant that Lyft drivers, taxi cabs or airport limousines there will no longer be required to obtain a permit from the city. Instead, the company will be required to regulate the drivers, including doing a background check.
 
Challenges like this have been a regular rite of passage for ride share outfits. Last spring Austin, Texas, lost Uber and Lyft when the city council passed an ordinance requiring ride share companies to obtain fingerprint-based background checks for every potential driver. Uber and Lyft quickly stopped operations in that city.
 
This week lawmakers in Texas filed two bills that may determine who regulates these companies, the city or the state, which could bring the dueling companies back to the streets of the state capitol.
 
No such battles have happened in Wilmington, which welcomed Uber two years ago without any such conflict.
 
Lyft president and co-founder John Zimmer views his company, and the new economy of peer-to-peer business, as a revolution that will continue to grow especially in the transportation sector. So much so that he believes by 2025, private car ownership will all but end in major U.S. cities.
 
“Every year, more and more people are concluding that it is simpler and more affordable to live without a car,” Zimmer wrote in a blog posting on Medium recently. “And when networked autonomous vehicles come onto the scene, below the cost of car ownership, most city-dwellers will stop using a personal car altogether.”
 
His blog post including the astounding statistic that the average vehicle is used only 4 percent of the time and parked the other 96 percent.

“We’re thrilled to provide people in North Carolina with more safe, convenient ride options,” said Lyft spokesperson Mary Caroline Pruitt on Thursday. “Many drivers and passengers have voiced that they prefer Lyft because the overall ride experience is more positive and enjoyable, and we think Wilmington residents will also embrace Lyft for its welcoming, affordable rides.”